The three of you
by chocogreen
Summary: ZUTARA! Aang died and Katara fell in the arms of Zuko, together they find out that they're in love with each other and soon a new heir to the throne his born. At his birth it seems that he's a waterbender and his parents do everything to protect him...
1. Prologue

**(A/N: So, my new story will be about ATLA! Now, I must warn ALL the Kataang fans, this is a ZUTARA fanfic, don't flame me! I'm one of those strange people who loves both Kataang and Zutara so I might write a Kataang story later. This story just got stuck into my head and the only way to write it was to use Zutara. And yeah yeah, we all know that it eventually became Kataang and that they have a son named Tenzin and that Korra is going to be the new Avatar and all but this is called fanfiction for a reason, so enjoy this prologue. If people like it, I'll continue it, if they don't, I probably still will, just because I want to write it down xD)******

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of these characters, this is just fanmade! (Mike and Bryan for the win!)**

**The three of you: prologue**

The Fire lord walked through the palace, looking at his own feet. It wasn't often that he had these feelings, they were long gone, he thought. After Mai left a few years ago, since she couldn't cope with his life and all the time he spent working on the new world, he had never felt love again. How could he? His mother was gone, his father and sister were in jail, his family had marked him, literally. He felt all alone in the world, although he was surrounded by many servants. His uncle Iroh had decided to live in the Earth Kingdom and continue his tea business, which left the young fire lord all alone. Years had passed since he last heard something of his friends but rumors said that Sokka and Suki had a child now, Kyra. Toph had convinced her parents that she could take care of herself and they soon became a real family again while Katara and Aang were still together. But of course, even in times of peace there were still people who wanted war and so Aang, the avatar, had to travel the world sometimes.

_It was right then, at that moment that the Fire lord's world would turn around._

"Miss, you can't go there!" he heard a guard yell behind him. The next sound he heard was a wave of water, crashing against the wall and when he turned around he saw a young woman, running towards him with tears in her eyes. The bag with water she always carried around was now empty and the guard was lying on the ground but Zuko put his hand in the air, to tell him everything was ok.

"Zuko!" the girl screamed and cried at the same time when she fell into his arms for a hug.

"Katara, what's wrong?"

He didn't know what had gotten into her, she was a strong woman, he knew that. The only time he had ever seen her cry was when she told him about her mother and a feeling of horror crept upon him. Had someone died again? And most importantly, where was Aang? His questions were soon answered when the brown haired woman in his arms spoke again.

"Aang's dead, the avatar is dead," she whispered.


	2. Returning without him

**Disclaimers : I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of these characters, they belong to Mike and Bryan! This is just fanmade!******

**WARNING: This is the beginning of the story and it's Kataang, so for all you Zutara fans, don't be mad!**

**Chapter one: Returning without him**

**Katara:**

"Mmh," I moaned when the sunlight woke me up. "Let's stay in bed a little while longer," I said to the young man beside me. I stretched out my arm and to my surprise the spot where he normally lay was empty. It felt cold which meant he was awake for at least a few hours now.

"Aang?" I asked, now opening my eyes and looking around the room. The white curtains were open and I could feel a gentle breeze, probably coming from the ocean that lay a few miles from our house. The wooden doors to the hallway were closed and I put out my right hand to grab the necklace my mother once gave me and put it on. Everything seemed normal so I stood up to walk towards the kitchen. I could use a cup of tea right now, it always woke me up in the morning.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and almost tripped over a carpet, maybe I should go to bed a little bit earlier tonight, I hadn't slept during the whole night. Something had kept me awake, a strange feeling inside and I had put my arms around Aang to make sure everything was okay. When it was getting lighter outside I must've fallen asleep, too tired to notice he was gone. To my surprise the kitchen was clean, Aang hadn't been around. Normally he would take everything he needed and spread it out in the kitchen. Half an hour later, I would be the one to clean his mess. Sometimes I wondered if he had learned that from Sokka, but at least Aang didn't have stinky socks. As soon as I wanted to open the cupboard I saw a little note hanging onto it.

_Katara___

_The Order of the White Lotus contacted me and I have to go to the Southern Air Temple, there have been some difficulties lately. Don't worry, Appa and I will be back in a few days. I'm sorry that I didn't woke you up this morning but you seemed so peaceful and I didn't want to disturb your dreams. Take care of Momo for me, will you? And most of all, take care of yourself, but I know you're capable of doing that.___

_Love, Aang_

The Southern Air Temple… It reminded me of home, the Southern Water Tribe, of my brother and his wife Suki, of my father. I missed them, a lot. After all our adventures together it was strange to grow up, living different lives and not seeing each other for months. I remembered Sokka's wedding and the birth of his daughter, Kyra. She was named after my mother, Kya and she looked just like her. My mother... I could see her murderer again but I didn't regret what I had done, I wouldn't take his life, I wouldn't be like him.

A sigh escaped my lips when I thought back of those scary but wonderful times and I took a bag of tea out of the cupboard. I left the note right where it was, I had to look at it sometimes, as a reminder that Aang would come back, he was gone too often lately.

I took some water and started to heat it up on the stove, it would take some time before the water was boiling. Looking at my bag of tea I remembered Iroh, he had a famous tea business now, somewhere in Ba Sing Se. He had settled down in the Earth Kingdom and I would often visit him, he was an old man and lived all by himself, he liked to have some company sometimes but then again, who didn't? He was the one that always gave me some tea when I returned home and somehow he knew exactly which one I needed at what time, as if he could predict that I would need those calming damps and fluid.

I shook my head. "You're going a bit crazy, Katara," I murmured to myself. "He just knows you, he can't predict things."

The water was finally boiling and I looked at the little flames, coming out of the stove. The first time I had seen Aang making fire he had burned my hands, but I forgave him, it wasn't his fault. He still had to learn how to control his powers back then, but now he was a fully trained Avatar, someone to be proud of. Most Avatars had years and years to practice the elements but Aang did it all in one year. He didn't like fire bending at first, he saw it as destruction and so did I. After a while he could see the life in it and my thoughts changed too. Personally I thought fire bending was a great thing, it was the exact opposite of what I did but it seemed so gracious.

"Zuko," I murmured when I put the tea bag into my cup. Although we didn't get along in the beginning, since he tried to kill or capture us, he became a true friend after a few years. Mai had left him a couple of years ago and I felt sad inside, sad that he didn't feel the love I felt when I was around Aang, he was all alone now… Maybe thinking of my friends wasn't such a good idea after all, it made me sad instead of happy.

"Hey, where's twinkle toes?"

I turned around and almost let my cup of tea fall to the ground. At first I thought I had imagined the voice, thinking of the past but it seemed to real.

"Toph!" I shouted when I saw her, standing in the doorway. I ran over to her and almost hit her to the ground, giving her a hug. Zuko wasn't the only one who was alone, I was alone often too. The last couple of months it seemed as if everyone needed Aang's attention and everyone got it, everyone but me.

"Calm down Katara, it's just me," the blind girl in my arms said.

I let go of her and looked at her. She had changed the past four years, I was only a few inches taller than her and she had let her black hair grow, it now hung down her shoulders and she smiled at me. She didn't wear a dress, like the last time I had seen her on Sokka's wedding, but she wore a training gear, something she felt comfortable in.

"Just you? I haven't seen you in ages!" I shouted and she laughed a bit.

"I haven't seen you either, Katara." She pointed towards her eyes and we both started to laugh before I offered her a cup of tea.

**Aang:**

I looked at the Southern Air Temple, my past home. A feeling of loneliness crept upon me when I remembered all the other air benders, I truly was the last one of my kind.

I leaped down from the boulder I was standing on and walked towards the building, it was quiet, too quiet.

"Appa, stay there," I said to the flying bison behind me. He protested at first but he obeyed, he always did. Some people said he was just an animal, a guide, but I knew he was much more, he was my friend, I didn't want him to get hurt.

I jumped up into the air and flew around the temple when I suddenly noticed some people at the back, they were fighting. Well, training was a better word since they didn't seem to really harm each other.

"Look!" another person shouted and he pointed up towards me. "That's the Avatar!"

Soon hundreds of men walked out of the temple and started to use their bending on me. I had to dodge rocks, fire, electricity. They wanted to kill me.

I landed down and used my air bending to throw them off but they soon blocked it with walls of earth. I had never fought an army before, at least not like this. When I was at the Northern Water Tribe I had enough water around me to protect me. I had to do it with one element less this time, an element that I desperately needed. My air bending was effective when I wanted to protect myself, because they couldn't make it go away but it was hard to fight all of them. More and more men came out and I didn't know if I was going to make it.

**Katara:**

"So, how are your parents?" I asked the younger woman when I put down a cup of tea in front of her.

"They're doing fine, they're still a bit protective over me but I guess all parents are like that," she laughed before drinking of her tea."Mmh, Iroh's tea is still the best," she whispered before drinking the whole cup in less than two seconds.

"So, why did you visit me?" I asked, slowly drinking my cup.

"I thought you would like a visit?" She raised an eyebrow and I nodded, realizing that she couldn't see the movement.

"Yes, I'm glad you visited me, I just didn't expect you, that's all."

She smiled at me and started to play with the cup in her hands. "Yeah, I wasn't really planning on visiting, I just came through."

"You're travelling again?" I couldn't help but too sound a little jealous. What I wouldn't do to go on an adventure again, to sleep on Appa's back and feel the cold wind during the nights. Maybe Aang and I should take a trip sometime, when he wasn't busy.

"Not really, I'm just going to visit an old friend," she said, blushing a little.

"An old friend?" I teased her.

"Yes," she answered, not wanting to tell me who.

"Wait a second," I murmured. "We're close to the Northern Water Tribe here… No, you don't know anyone there, then it must be… The Northern Air Temple… You're here for Teo, aren't you?"

Her cheeks flushed red and her fist slammed onto the table, causing the floor beneath it to move.

"Calm down Toph, I would like it if you didn't destroy my house," I laughed. "I won't tell anyone." Most people thought that because Toph was blind, she was weak too, but it was the opposite. Because of her blindness she could even bend metal, she could feel the little earth parts into the grey plates.

"You promise?" she whispered. She clearly didn't like the idea of anyone knowing she had a little crush on the young man, Teo. When we first encountered him he could fly through the air, his father had made him a machine so he could fly too, although he was sitting in a wheelchair. He had always been a happy kid and that still hadn't changed. I could still remember the day his smile lightened up the world, when Aang had told him he had the spirit of a true air bender.

"Yes, I promise," I answered the black haired woman in front of me.

**Aang:**

This was more than I could handle, I, the Avatar. I had been lead into a trap by those bandits. It was a union of fire benders and earth benders but their number was an advantage, I was all alone. I felt the wind rushing by while I fell down the cliff and soon the cold water made me feel numb and so did the pain. They left me here for dead, and I soon would be if I didn't do anything.

With my last powers I managed to protect myself from further harm by making an ice shield around me. This all seemed so familiar, as if I was back in the past and I wondered if Katara would save me again. Katara…

**Katara:**

Toph had left a few hours ago and I sat on the balcony of our bedroom, looking at the full moon. I could feel the powers inside of me, being stronger but of course I didn't use them. It had been long since I last used my water bending powers, in times of peace it wasn't really needed. Of course I had used them to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe and my people had been very grateful for that. Little Kyra was a water bender, like me, and there were some other kids too, soon I would have to learn them how to bend the water, but I didn't mind. When I was little I had wanted to be a water master too and I wouldn't take away those kids opportunity to become one.

Suddenly I spotted a black spot in front of the moon and I narrowed my eyes a little. I could clearly see that it was huge, whatever it was. After a few minutes it wasn't a blur anymore and I could see the contours of Aang's animal guide.

"Appa?" I shouted, to be sure.

The flying bison came closer and I was happy, knowing that Aang had returned. Although he had been gone for only a day, I already missed him. I was glad his trip went well and that he was home so soon, but my happiness soon disappeared like snow for the sun when Appa was floating in front of me, no one on his back.

"Where's Aang?" I asked the creature.

He looked down and cried out while tears welled up in my eyes.

"No!" I screamed and I could hear waves crashing to the shore, they moved with my arms. I could feel how it moved and normally I would've been dumbfounded by my own power but not this time. There was only one reason for Appa to return without Aang, if he was dead.

"Nooooo!" I cried and I fell down on my knees, my head buried in my hands. I couldn't believe this was happening, he couldn't be dead, he was the avatar, he was my love.


	3. Letting the world know

**Disclaimers : I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of these characters, they belong to Mike and Bryan! This is just fanmade!**

**Chapter two: Letting the world know**

**Zuko:**

All my life I thought that getting back my honor would be the only thing I ever needed. But now, when I had it back and the world lived in peace I saw the other things in life that were even more important than honor.

I shook my head. "You've listened too much to that crazy uncle of yours, Zuko," I said to myself.

I walked through the palace and was heading for the garden where I once sat with my mother, feeding the ducks. How much I missed my mother… My father had never told me where she was, only that she was still alive. Years and years I had spent, searching for her, using the best people I had to do so, but I never found her again. She was the only one that loved me, except for my uncle Iroh but he was far away too, he lived in the Earth Kingdom.

I could hear the water of the pond in the royal garden when I walked past an open window and I turned my head. Two little birds were sitting on the edge of the window, happily whistling to each other and I felt lonely deep inside. Here I was, the great Fire Lord, probably the most powerful man in the world and yet still alone. There was no one to love, of course, there were a lot of beautiful woman in the nation but none of them had what I was looking for. Now I thought about it, Mai didn't have it either. I was a young teenager back then, a young Fire Lord, the one who had to lead the new world, who would make changes by the side of the Avatar. It had been almost eight years since that day, since I became the Fire Lord and the world was in balance once more. What would have happened if Mai was still here? Would we have an heir to the throne? Would I have a family again?

I walked further through the hallways, looking at my own feet, lost in thoughts when suddenly a sound caught my attention.

"Miss, you can't go there!" I heard a guard yell behind me. The next sound I heard was a wave of water, crashing against the wall and when I turned around I saw a young woman, running towards me with tears in her eyes. The bag with water she always carried around was now empty and the guard was lying on the ground but I put my hand in the air, to tell him everything was ok.

"Zuko!" the girl screamed and cried at the same time when she fell into my arms for a hug.

"Katara, what's wrong?" I asked, wondering what had gotten into her. She was a strong woman, I knew that. The only time I had ever seen her cry was when she told me about her mother. A feeling of horror crept upon me. Had someone died again? And most importantly, where was Aang?

"Aang's dead, the avatar is dead," she whispered.

"What?" I screamed, pushing the young woman a few inches away from me so I could look at her. The look in her eyes told me she was telling the truth, he was really dead. "But how?" I shook my head in disbelieve and Katara fell into my arms again, sobbing against my chest when a few servants ran towards us.

"Prepare a room," I said to them. "And don't bother us until I say you can."

The servants nodded and walked out of the hallway towards one of the guestrooms, preparing it for Katara.

"Now, tell me," I said to the young woman while supporting her with my arms. She clearly didn't have the strength to stay on her feet anymore now that she had told me Aang was dead. The black spots under her eyes told me she hadn't slept in days and I wondered how long she knew.

"A-Aang left a n-note for me y-yesterday and it s-said the O-order of the White L-lotus told him to go to the S-Southern Air Temple. L-later that night A-Appa arrived home a-alone," she cried. Her whole body was shaking and I was glad we had reached the garden. We sat down at the edge of the pond and her head rested on my shoulder.

"Are you sure he's dead?" I asked.

She nodded. "Appa would never leave without Aang and he's sad too." Her voice was still trembling a little bit but she seemed to calm down now, it must've been the water next to us, it always calmed her. Or maybe it was the tiredness that gained control of her, I wasn't really sure.

"What are you going to do now?" Sane people would have thought about the world, the Avatar was gone. The next one would be a Water Master and it would take at least another sixteen years before he or she was trained in the four elements. But I kept this for myself, the world didn't matter, for now. Katara was one of my friends, she didn't need someone who thought about the security of the world, she needed a friend.

Her crystal blue eyes looked up into mine and I could see my own emotions in them, loneliness. She had no idea of what she was going to do now, it seemed as if the fire in her was gone. Like she couldn't go on without Aang.

"I should go back home," she murmured. "Or maybe live with Sokka for a while…" She put her feet into the water beneath us and started to move them, very slowly.

"You can stay here if you'd like. I can't imagine how hard it must be if you went home now, or to live with Sokka who's in love and has a child." I laid my hand upon her shoulder and she gave me a weak smile.

"I shouldn't bother you any longer, Zuko." She looked at her own reflection in the water and I noticed that the waves she was making were much bigger than just her movements. She was water bending too, although I wasn't sure if she realized it.

"You're not bothering me at all, Katara."

Her head turned to look at me again and when she opened her mouth and was about to say something she suddenly collapsed, her frail body falling onto mine and her eyes shut.

**Katara:**

"How is she doing?" a male's voice asked. I tried to open my eyes but it was hard to do so, I felt tired. I tried again and the light in the room made me close my eyes again.

"She doing fine, my lord. She was just tired, it'll take her a while to get her strength back. After all, it is hard news if you lose somebody," an elder woman replied.

"Yes it is, indeed." A sigh escaped his lips and I could hear someone leaving the room.

I suddenly realized I knew the male's voice, it was Zuko's. I searched through my mind and everything came back, Aang, the flight here with Appa, how the Fire Lord offered me to stay.

"Zuko," I muttered. My voice sounded harsh, and I had a sore throat. Maybe I did need some sleep. It was all too much for me.

I heard footsteps, coming closer to me and soon the bed shifted under another person's weight.

"Katara?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," I answered while trying to smile a little. "I'm just a little bit tired." I opened my eyes and I could see concern in his.

"Take some rest, we'll talk later." He laid his hand upon mine in a gentle gesture and stood up again, closing the doors behind him.

**Iroh:**

I closed the door after my last customer left and started to clean some tables. It was a quiet life here, but I liked it that way. People were friendly towards me and I made a good living, there was nothing to complain about.

"Sir!"

I turned around when I heard the male's voice and some hard knocks on the door.

"Yes?" I answered, a bit wary of who was knocking on my door this late. Of course I wasn't afraid, I just didn't like the idea of unknown people knocking at my door at eleven o' clock in the evening.

"General Iroh, Fire Lord Zuko has sent me here," the man said with impatience in his voice.

It had been long since someone called me a general and I knew this person was speaking the truth, that I could trust him. I opened the door and the man seemed out of breath, as if he ran the whole way from the Fire Nation. A loud growl caught my attention and I looked to the left to see the Animal Guide of the Avatar a few hundreds of meters further. Little children came out of their house and started to play with the creature. To my surprise the Avatar was nowhere to be seen and I gave the man in front of me a questioning look.

"Why did my nephew send you?"

"He needs you to come back to the Fire Nation immediately. He wants to tell you something important about the avatar, sir." He nodded towards me in a sign of respect but I was too occupied thinking to respond to it.

"The avatar?" What did this man mean? What was wrong with the Avatar? I remembered the problems in the Southern Air Temple and wondered what my nephew had to do with it. Another growl from Appa made me realize what was happening.

"The Avatar is dead?" I whispered, so quiet that only the black haired man in front of me could hear it.

"Yes, sir," he answered.

**Zuko:**

Although she was asleep, there wasn't a peaceful look onto her face. She had slept for almost twelve hours now and I was checking on her, to see if she was okay. She stirred and I could see the sweat on her forehead, she was clearly having a bad dream.

"Katara," I said, trying to wake her up. When she didn't react I nudged her shoulder and suddenly the sweat drops on her forehead floated in the air and turned into a little sword of ice.

I took a step backwards and covered myself with a wall of fire when the ice flew towards my direction.

"Katara!" I shouted when even the water that stood on her nightstand, so she could drink, attacked me.

Her eyes flew open, filled with tears, and the ice fell onto the ground.

"I'm sorry Zuko, I had a bad dream," she whispered before laying her head back down. She still seemed tired, although she had slept half a day.

"It's nothing Katara, I understand. If you need anything call a servant, I told them to listen to you. I have to go now, my uncle is going to arrive any minute now."

I turned around to leave but when I laid my hand onto the door she spoke again.

"What is going to happen with the world now, Zuko? Aang was the Avatar, the people need an Avatar," she said.

I turned to face her and gave her a weak smile. "Don't worry about that, Katara. I'll let the world know. Take a bath, it'll calm you."

She nodded and stepped out of the bed when I closed the door.

**Katara:**

I stepped into the warm water and a sigh of relief escaped my lips. The worries were gone for a short second but soon everything came back to me. How would I continue? How would the world continue? I was sure that Zuko and the Order of the White Lotus were in control of the world, there would be no problem until the next Avatar accepted his or her destiny but I knew that I couldn't continue. I loved Aang more than anyone else in the whole world, things didn't seem very bright to me. Would I ever fall in love again or would I stay alone for the rest of my life? And even if I did, wouldn't that be betraying Aang?

**Zuko:**

"Zuko," my uncle said. I turned around and he had a deep frown on his forehead. I could see Appa standing in front of the building, some servants leading him towards one of the large stables.

"Uncle," I bowed and he walked closer to me, not with the intention of giving me a hug like he always did. This was the serious side of my uncle, he knew this was important.

"Is it true? Is the Avatar dead?" he whispered.

I nodded. "Tomorrow morning I'll inform the world about our loss."

"And what about Katara?" I had asked myself that same question a few minutes earlier. She didn't look like she was going to make it without him. They had been together for so long now, they were a family. I could imagine how hard it would be for her to lose that and somehow I didn't want her to feel that pan, my pain. A sudden urge to protect her overtook my thoughts but I shook my head, trying to regain them.

"She's staying here, I thought that it was for the best. I'm not sure if she's ready to go back and she's very tired too."

"I see. Let's make her a nice cup of tea then while you tell me the exact story." My uncle walked in front of me towards the kitchen and I told him the story that Katara had told me while he told me about the task. Maybe I should go and take a visit at the Southern Air Temple.

**Katara:**

"I have an announcement to make."

I stood behind the Fire Lord, looking at him with a blank expression. No one could see me but I could see all of them. Almost the whole Fire Nation stood there, looking up at him. It was the first time in my life that I recognized the royalty in his voice, the calmness of a leader, he was born to do this.

"The Avatar is dead," Zuko said while bowing his head down to the ground.

Gasps were coming from the crowd, some people screaming and I could feel the pain inside of me when the young man in front of me said those words. I looked down at my feet when tears rolled down my face and I could hear someone coming closer to me.

"It'll be ok, Katara," Iroh said to me.

"It won't," I whispered.

I turned around and wanted to run away when Zuko suddenly stood in front of me and I bumped into him, sobbing against his chest.

"I miss him," I cried.

The Fire Lord laid his hand upon my head and gently caressed my hair, trying to calm me down.  
"It'll be ok, Katara, I promise."

Although I had doubted Iroh's words, I couldn't doubt his, not even if I wanted to.

**(A/N: Hehe, another chapter :D I know that it's kinda 'late', well for me at least but I don't know, I think I might have some writer's block? + I got my tablet and I'm testing it out… I promise that I'll update sooner next time ^^')**


	4. Family

** skyblaze112: Yep, the last line is going to start the Zutara ;D**

**Disclaimers : I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of these characters, they belong to Mike and Bryan! This is just fanmade!**

**Chapter three: Family**

**Katara:**

It had been almost five weeks since Aang died and the world was in deep sorrow but they soon got hope again, knowing that the Avatar would return one day. I spent my days training, it was the only way I could set my mind on other things.

I looked into my opponent's eyes and smirked. "You're going down, Zuko."

He laughed at me and used his fire bending but I protected myself with a wall of ice. He had made sure there was a pond where I could get water from in the garden, so I wouldn't kill the fish or accidently throw a duck to his face, like I did at our first training session. He immediately started to laugh and told me I was just like Sokka, which got him a cold shower. A few days later the fish of one of the ponds were removed and soon our training started again.

Zuko walked closer to me and put his hand against the huge wall of ice, burning through it immediately. He got his power from the sun while I got mine from the moon. We were complete opposites and so were our powers but we got along very well. It was almost strange, knowing that I couldn't stand him eight years ago.

"That's enough for today."

We both turned around and saw Iroh, holding a plate into his hands.

"Tea?"

The remains of my wall of ice hit the ground when I turned it back into water and Zuko walked to the side of the field, taking his coat. I could see the scar on his stomach, the one that his sister made when he wanted to protect me. Suddenly it felt like we were kids again, he always had that protective side but I never noticed it before. He had it when we were fighting Azula, when I told him about my mother, when I told him Aang was dead. No one would ever see it in him but I knew better. The great Fire Lord was a care taker. He didn't look like his father or his sister at all. He was gentle, like his uncle and I wondered if he maybe looked like his mother. I had never asked about her before since he didn't like to speak about her. He had lost her too, when he was young and I knew he had made a lot of trips, trying to find her.

"Are you going to the festival tonight, Katara?" Iroh asked, snapping me back to the real world. He had left his tea business in the Earth Kingdom, to help Zuko. They needed some reorganization now Aang was gone but he would soon leave again, I could tell that the old man missed the peace and silence of his home.

"I don't think I will, I don't want to go alone," I answered, nipping from my tea. It was lemon tea, just the way I liked it.

"I'll go with you."

I turned my head a few degrees and looked up into two amber eyes.

"Are you nuts? People will bow for you and tell you about their problems, hoping you would do something about it. The girls will try to get your attention and eventually people will notice I'm with you and start telling me how sorry they are." I shook my head and drank again.

"Katara, the festivities are based onto old legends, people won't notice us if we go there and dress. Besides, you could use some distraction," he said while sitting down and taking his own cup of tea.

He was right though, I could use the distraction but I just didn't want to go, it felt so wrong to be happy now Aang was gone.

"I think Zuko is right," Iroh said. "You two should go."

**Zuko:**

Katara and I walked through the streets, some people complementing us about our costumes. Little did they know that we had used these costumes before, to help them. I was dressed as the Blue Spirit while Katara was the Painted Lady. Almost her whole face was hidden behind her hat but I could still see her lips, she wasn't smiling at all.

"Katara, I thought this would do you some good," I said to her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"It's not that I'm not enjoying this, it's just that… I don't know if I should be happy, knowing that Aang's gone…" She continued to walk but stopped when she noticed I hadn't.

"Come here," I ordered her.

She raised her head and I could look into her eyes now, she seemed to have a bit of her joy back, but not all of them. Taking three steps she now stood right in front of me, looking up while I looked down.

"Aang was the definition of the word fun, Katara. How would he feel if you were never happy again? He's probably blaming himself, right now, somewhere in the Spirit World. Aang wants you to live, and you should remember that he's still alive too, at least a part of him. It is somewhere, in a little water bender, and I'm sure that you will find him once more. You'll just be friends but you'll be able to ask him if he wants you to be happy, but I'm sure he wants you to be, he loved you, Katara."

She didn't speak but I could finally see a true smile on her face now and some tears in her eyes. I gently wiped them away and she laid her head into my head, still smiling.

"Thanks for being such a great friend, Zuko. It must be hard for you, taking care of someone like me and being a Fire Lord at the same time."

I shook my head. "Almost everything is arranged, and my uncle is helping out too. It's not that I have to rule the country every minute of the day."

"You're a lucky man," she whispered before turning her head back to the streets. She was looking at the people, at all the different lights burning, at a blue, paper dragon that was carried through the street by several men and I stood beside her, enjoying the view.

"Why am I a lucky man, Katara?" Maybe I was, in her eyes, but I certainly wasn't in mine.

"You have your honor back, the world is in balance once more thanks to your help, you are the Fire Lord, you brought peace. You should be proud of yourself Zuko. You have almost everything that you could possibly want." Her eyes wandered over the silhouette of a little boy and I could see a sadness in her eyes.

"I don't have everything that I want," I said to her, refusing to let my emotions take control of me.

"What do you want the most, Zuko?" she asked, now looking back to me.

"A family."

She smiled at me and nodded. "That's one of the most beautiful things you can wish for," she whispered before taking my hand and leading me into the crowd again.

**Katara:**

I wandered through the palace, wearing a dressing gown to keep me from the cold. It was late at night, Zuko and I came back from the festival a few hours ago and everyone was asleep, everyone but me.

I walked towards the garden and closed my eyes when the cold air caressed my face. I liked being outside, I liked the cold, it reminded me of home. After taking a few steps I sat down at the edge of the pond, looking at the beautiful flowers in them beneath the moonlight.

Zuko's words were like a song, stuck in my head. He was right, Aang liked to make fun, he wouldn't like it if I didn't, he wanted me to be happy. But still, there was a part of me that felt like betraying him every time I was happy and lately I felt happy a lot. But it was the reason why that scared me, I was happy whenever the young Fire Lord was around. I couldn't feel something for him, could I? No, I couldn't, I wouldn't.

I looked up at the moon and a sigh escaped my lips.

"Do you want me to be happy, Aang?" I whispered into the darkness.

**Zuko:**

I wandered through the palace, not bothering to wear any clothes other than my boxers to keep me warm. It was cold outside, I knew that, but I wanted to feel it, I needed to cool down. It was often that I couldn't sleep at night but the reason why I couldn't tonight disturbed me. Normally I couldn't sleep because I had stress or because I had an important meeting or just because I wasn't tired enough but today it was because my thoughts drifted off to my beautiful guest. There was something about her, that made me feel happy when she was around and sad when she was. She seemed like Mai but she seemed so much more at the same time.

"You can't fall in love with her," I said to myself. "She has just lost the love of her life."

I saw her face in front of me again and I remembered what she had asked me a few hours before. _'What do you want the most, Zuko?'_ I answered her I wanted a family and it was true but there was something else I wanted, although I wasn't quite sure what that was. Did I want Katara's friendship? Did I want some company or did I just want someone to protect and care over? Did I want someone to love or did I want someone who made me feel alive and happy?

The answer to my questions was soon given when I saw her, sitting at the edge of the pond, her body covered by the moonlight. I didn't want anything or anyone, I wanted her.

**Katara:**

I had closed my eyes again and had the feeling I was being watched. When I opened my eyes again and turned my head I could see Zuko, standing a few feet from me, his eyes filled with something I had never seen before.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He stood there, only wearing his boxers and I traced down the lines of his muscles. His body seemed so perfect…

"No," he answered, walking towards me. "Are you?"

I noticed that I was hugging my dressing gown closer to my body and that I was cold. "A bit," I murmured.

He sat down next to me and placed one arm around me and hugged me closer to his side, wanting to warm me up. I looked up at his face and smiled before taking a peek at his muscular chest and looking at the water again. In that short second I had seen that he spoke the truth, he wasn't cold, he didn't have any goose bumps.

"Why aren't you cold?" I asked, almost whispering.

"I'm a fire bender, if I get too cold I can always warm myself up," he answered, looking at the water too.

"I see," I answered, a yawn escaping my lips. "What are you doing here exactly?" To others it would sound impolite, asking the Fire Lord something like this, at his own house even, but I knew Zuko wouldn't mind.

"I could ask you the same question," he laughed and I smiled. What he said was true, I was as strange as him, wandering around the palace at night.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither." He didn't look at the water anymore but he looked down at me, his amber eyes captivating me. "What were you doing here?"

"Thinking, talking to Aang."

The look in his eyes changed, as if he suddenly realized something and he let his arm slid of my shoulders before looking at the moon.

"What did you talk about?" he asked. I couldn't help but to think he was hurt, but why would he?

"I couldn't stop thinking about what you said earlier so I asked him if he wanted me to be happy." A little smile appeared on my face when I thought back of Zuko's words. Anyone could have said them, but out of his mouth they seemed true.

"What would make you happy?" the young man next to me asked.

"The same thing that would make you happy, a family." I knew I had a family, I still had my brother, niece, father and grandmother while Zuko only had his uncle but I felt as empty as he did, now I had lost Aang.

"Do you think you could ever fall in love again?" he almost whispered.

"I don't know. Maybe I will, after some time. But Aang will always have a special place into my heart." I felt sad again and I noticed that Zuko seemed more sad too, as if he was taking over my mood.

"I understand," he simply said, smiling at me to comfort me and it helped, his smile always helped me.

"Zuko?"

"Katara?" He raised an eyebrow and gave me a questioning look so I continued.

"Thanks for being such a great friend, I don't know what I would've done without you." My words were true, there wasn't a better friend than Zuko, not even Toph, Suki or my brother.

"No problem."

I smiled and laid my head upon his shoulder again, a sigh escaping my lips. I needed him, I needed him to take care of me, to make sure I was ok. A few months would pass before I would realize I needed him in other ways too, that I needed him to love me, to hug me when I needed him to. To train with me just to be in his company, to guide me into the Fire nation's traditions, to learn me the old stories of the country, to hold me at night, to talk with me at the edge of this pond whenever I couldn't sleep.


	5. Water bender

**(A/N: I wanted to actually start the story so I made things go a little bit faster in this one :D)******

**Disclaimers : I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of these characters (except for one, which I made up, but still), they belong to Mike and Bryan! This is just fanmade!**

**Chapter four: Water bender**

**Katara:**

The more time passed, the more something inside of me started to change. There was something deep inside of him, that made my heart flutter every time he looked at me. I would never admit it though, I couldn't fall in love with him. Even if it wasn't for Aang, he was my friend, he was the Fire Lord.

"Katara, you seem distracted today," Iroh said while he was watching our daily training session. The old man would leave in a few days and I already knew I was going to miss him. But another part of me felt exited too, knowing that Zuko and I would be the only ones in the palace, except for the servants of course.

I turned my head to look at him and to regain my thoughts while I blocked one of Zuko's attacks. I took a step backwards and aimed some icicles towards the young man in front of me, still looking at Iroh.

"Distracted?" I asked when some of them hit Zuko's arms. I knew my training partner, he was the one distracted, not the other way around. Whenever I looked the other way he let his guard down, thinking I was taking a break. But I knew my powers, I could easily hit him without looking if I wanted too.

The old man smiled and raised his cup of tea to tell me we should continue.

"I can pull out a trick too you know," the Fire Lord said and he smirked at me. He got in a fighting position again and bent his knees before taking a deep breath. His arms and legs made some movements I had never seen before and I could see the fire he was making taking a strange form around him. It took me a few seconds to realize it was like a huge dragon, protecting him.

"It's beautiful," I murmured, looking at the dragon which seemed to still grow. "You never told me you could do this."

"I couldn't, I trained very hard the last couple of weeks so I could. It's a great attack but it's also very defensive, as you can see it protects my body pretty well. Why don't you try to get through it."

I nodded and got in a fighting position also, using almost all the water around me to create an attack. It wasn't often that I used this, it was an attack Aang once learned me, making a hurricane. Zuko just smirked when he saw what I was doing, he didn't seem impressed at all.

"You'll have to do better than that, you know," he said, still smirking.

I growled at him and unleashed my power, the hurricane coming very close to him now but the dragon seemed to wrap itself around the huge amount of twirling water and soon I was having troubles. I had never imagined the fire to be this powerful and I was about to make my attack stronger when suddenly someone said my name.

_'Katara.'_

I let my arms fall down to my sides and all the water returned back to the ponds right before I fell down on my knees. There was only one man's voice that sounded that way, Aang's. I didn't feel the heat coming my way when I supported myself with my arms and soon another young male screamed my name.

**Zuko:**

"I'll never forgive myself," I grumbled while running through the hallways, carrying Katara in my arms. She had suddenly stopped attacking me and the strength I had used for my dragon unleashed itself towards her. I could pull it back a little bit but she still took quit a blow.

"Get a healer here, now!" I ordered when I saw a servant and she nodded, a bit shocked about the condition of the girl in my arms.

I could remember the pain when my father and sister gave me my scars and I was marked for life, I wouldn't let her face the same destiny. When I looked back down I could see that her eyes weren't closed and she had a numb expression on her face.

"Katara?" I said, walking into her room. My voice was filled with concern and I should've been, half of her face was burned and she hadn't screamed at all, it was as if she didn't realize she was in pain.

"He said my name" she whispered before I laid her down onto her bed carefully.

"Who?" I asked while getting some water from the bathroom. If the healer was here soon she wouldn't have a scar and she would be alright.

When I returned I could see that her eyes were closed now, it seemed as if she had passed out and maybe she did because of the pain she finally felt.

The door opened a few seconds later and an old woman almost ran inside, hurrying over to Katara's side.

**Somewhere at the Southern Sea:**

A young man tried to move his muscles so he could make the ice around him go away. He didn't know how long he had stayed in this position but he knew that he had to get out. After a few seconds he managed to open his eyes and soon the Avatar used his powers to go back to the surface. He gasped for air once he got there and his body shivered, the water was too cold for him to bear.

"Katara," he whispered, realizing that he had to do something. He was almost killed but he managed to save himself, she was the reason that he had saved himself.

"I have to get out of here," he said before using his powers to get back to the shore.

**Zuko:**

The healer left a few hours ago but I was still looking at her smooth skin, glad that she wasn't hurt. I could feel myself frowning when I thought back of my actions. How could I let this happen? Why did I let her get hurt by me? Why wasn't I more careful, people didn't hurt the ones they love, did they? I turned around towards the doors. Love? Did I really love Katara?

I shook my head. "Even if you did, she would never fall in love with you, you're complete opposites," I said to myself before walking out of her room. I needed to get some fresh air to regain my thoughts.

**Katara:**

I didn't remember much of the past day, everything was just a blur. All I remembered was that I was training with Zuko and that I had passed out due to the pain of my burned flesh but now it was perfectly healed. It wouldn't leave a scar or anything but Zuko seemed to avoid me for some reason and I was planning on searching him.

I walked through the hallways, it was late at night and I knew where I could find him. He would sit in the garden, at the pond, looking at the night sky.

When I walked outside I could see his silhouette standing at the edge of the pond and I could see the fire in his hands. I stopped, not because I was scared but because I wanted to know what he was going to do.

"Damn it!" he shouted, unleashing the fire on a nearby wall. His fist hit the bricks and it amazed me that he hadn't broken his hand. "Why does she do this to me? Why?" he shouted, crossing his arms and leaning against the same wall. I could see that he closed his eyes and he murmured something underneath his breath. Although he was a few feet away from me I could perfectly understand what he was saying and a gasp escaped my lips.

He looked up to me now, with a shocked expression on his face.

"Katara?" he asked, a slight blush on his face.

"Did you mean what you were saying?" I asked.

He looked down to his feet, clearly embarrassed. "It doesn't matter." He walked past me but I soon stopped him, a wall of ice in front of him.

When he looked up he smiled a little and shook his head before taking a step to the left. Half a second later there was a new wall in front of him, he wasn't going to escape me.

He turned again but I had enough of it. I took a step closer to him and surrounded us with ice, he couldn't get away now, nor could I.

"Katara, what are you doing?" he asked, now looking down into my eyes.

"I want you to tell me the truth. Did you mean what you were saying, Zuko?" I knew that when I used his name he couldn't refuse answering me, it was as if it pulled the words out of him.

"Yes, I do care about you," he answered, still looking at me.

"That's not what I've heard." I shook my head and took another step towards him, getting rid of the distance between us.

"Katara," he protested but I laid my finger onto his lips.

"Just tell me, Zuko." I didn't want to hear those words coming out of his mouth, I _needed_ to hear them.

"I love you." Even if I hadn't looked into his eyes I knew that he was telling the truth. His voice was so sincere.

"Why?"

"Because you give me strength, you light up a fire inside of my heart, you make me feel alive. Ever since you're here my loneliness has gone away, it feels like I have a home again, a family."

My heart skipped a beat and I didn't know how to react. "I see," I managed to get out, dumbfounded.

"I don't expect you to love me back, Katara." He looked down at his feet, his hairs covering his eyes.

"Zuko." I took his head into my hand and forced him to look at me again. "You gave me strength too. You brightened up my world when Aang was gone, I want to keep going because of you. You're my best friend."

"I don't love you like a friend, Katara." He shook his head and a sigh escaped his lips, clearly a bit disappointed.

"Who said I loved you like a friend?" I answered.

His eyes widened in surprise and he raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I love you like you love me, Zuko."

I stood on my tiptoes and closed my eyes before touching his lips with mine. As soon as we connected the ice wall around us splashed down to the ground. I slightly parted my lips and I could feel a warmth inside of me. At first I thought it was because the ice was gone but soon I noticed it was because of Zuko. He was a fire bender, his breath was warmer than most people's, something I had never noticed before. His arms wrapped their selves around my waist and he pulled me closer until we were pressed against each other. I didn't want to end this kiss and neither did he but the inevitable truth was that we both needed air.

As soon as our lips parted he laid his forehead onto mine and smiled before he spoke again. "Katara, I know that I'm not like Aang but I promise I will protect you, no matter what."

I took a step back and looked up into his amber orbs. "Zuko, I don't need you to be like Aang. He was your friend and I love him, I swear I'll always do but he would want me to be happy, us to be happy. I'm sure that he would find peace knowing that you were there for me and I for you. Don't compare yourself with Aang anymore, you're fine the way you are. I love you because you are you."

His smile only grew wider and he took me in my arms again. "Stay with me tonight," he whispered.

**Zuko: (6 months later)**

"Katara, you're my exact opposite but still you complete me. We are the sun and the moon, black and white, warm and cold, day and night, man and woman, King and citizen, fire and ice, land and sea, Yang and Yin. I, Fire Lord Zuko, promise to love you as long as we both shall live and I stand here today before you to ask you not only to become my wife but to become the Fire Lady as well. Will you join me on the trip where both our lives follow the same path?"

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and she nodded. "I do."

"All bow for the Fire Lord and the new Fire Lady!" my uncle shouted.

The people bowed and so did we, both smiling. Everything was complete now, to start our new family, even the little baby that was growing inside of the woman that held my hand.

**Aang: (Three months later)**

I was facing them once more. Months I had spent, trying to get away from them but they always found me again. As soon as I got to the shore I bumped into two of them, the ones that tried to kill me before, and I had been able to get away. From that day on they chased me and my powers weakened over time, my life would soon come to an end, there was no doubt about that.

"We have you now, Avatar," one of the earth benders said and I closed my eyes, waiting for the final blow.

"Katara, be happy," I whispered with the last amount of air I still had left in my lungs.

**Katara:**

"It's a boy, Katara," Zuko said to me, holding the little baby into his arms. I smiled at him and laid my head back onto the bed. Sweat was dropping down my face and I was a total mess but I didn't care.

"Give him to me," I whispered and soon my husband handed me the little child.

"He has your eyes," he murmured, looking down at the both of us.

"My little Urso," I whispered before giving him a kiss on his forehead. "You're going to be a great Fire Lord like your daddy one day."

Zuko laughed and stood up when a servant brought in a bowl of water to clean the baby. She put it down on the nightstand and when I looked back up to my little boy's father there was a strange look onto his face.

"Leave," he said to the servants in a cold tone, something I wasn't used to.

"What is it?" I asked, looking from left to right. No one had done anything wrong, had they?

"He's a water bender, Katara," Zuko whispered once the door was closed. He pointed towards the bowl on the nightstand, the water in it moving slightly although it was untouched. (A/N: I saw the movie a few days ago and I thought the way Iroh checked out Aang's powers was pretty cool so I used it here :D)

"What does that mean?" I said, confusing filling my tone.

"It means that we'll have to protect him until he's old enough. No one can know about this, the Fire Lord is always a fire bender. Maybe the people will change their vision about him once he gets older but for now we must hide his powers, to keep him safe." His voice was still cold and he soon left the room, leaving me alone. I knew that he was going to his uncle and deep inside I hoped he would give us a solution.

I closed my eyes and a sigh escaped my lips, I didn't want my baby to grow up, hiding his own powers, it was unnatural.

_'Katara, be happy,'_ I heard someone whisper and I knew it was Aang. He would watch over us, no matter what, everything would be okay one day.


	6. Thirteen years later

**(A/N: I don't know if any of you have noticed that I've written a oneshot about Zutara in 'Shakespeare style'. It's the story of Romeo and Juliet where Zuko plays Romeo and Katara plays of course, Juliet. I've written about two scenes, where they meet and of course the end but I let it end differently. People on DA should look for 'Shakespeare – Zutara' in my gallery and the ones on FF should look for 'The tragedy of Zuko and Katara'. Now, let's get this story started for real :D)******

**Disclaimers : I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of these characters (except for a few, which I made up, but still), they belong to Mike and Bryan! This is just fanmade!**

**Chapter five: Thirteen years later**

**Katara:**

"Mom, mom, mom! We're going to the South Pole today, right?"

I looked at my son, running through the room as a crazy man and it surprised me how fast he really was.

"Calm down Urso, we're going to leave in a few minutes, when you're father gets here." I took another nip from my tea and watched as my son started to jump up and down.

"I'm going to wipe that smirk off Kyra's face and I'm going to beat uncle Sokka with his boomerang!" he shouted.

I shook my head and started to laugh. I knew why my son want to go to his family so desperately, the South Pole was the only place he could use his water bending. Over the years we had visited often so he could train and he was a great water bender for his age. Somehow his niece Kyra always succeeded in defeating him but I had seen him train secretly in his room, with a little bowl of water and wondered what he was up too.

The door opened and the black haired boy ran towards his father, still jumping up and down.

"Is Appa ready, dad?" he asked, almost shouting in his father's ear.

"Calm down buddy," he said while ruffling through his son's hair.

At first I had been scared, thinking that Zuko would love him less just because he was a water bender but eventually he didn't make the same mistake his own father did. Maybe that's what Aang meant at the day Urso was born, that I should be happy no matter what, Zuko would take care of me and Aang would watch over us.

"Come on dad, let's go!" The boy took his father's arm and started to drag him out of the room, followed by me and my laughter.

**Urso:**

"Yip Yip, Appa!"

As soon as the flying bison took off in the air I felt a calmness overflowing me. Why I loved flying with Appa so much was a complete mystery to me but over the years we had become great friends. At first I was scared of the giant animal but as time passed, we traveled to the South Pole and I had to fly on him. From the very first second his paws had left the ground I had fallen in love with flying and Appa became my best friend.

"Look mom!" I said when I stood up onto my two feet.

"Urso! Get back down," she demanded. I knew that she wasn't really mad, she was just concerned.

"Calm down mom, I just want to try something."

I looked over Appa's furry hair and saw that we were far away enough from the fire nation. If someone did some bending up here they could never see who did it, they would think it was mom.  
I crouched down a little and swirled around until the clouds were surrounding us. I had used the little parts of water inside of them to cover us. Now I thought about, it would be a great defense.

"Where did you learn that?" my father asked, clearly interested in my new power.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It just popped up in my head."

"Very good, Urso. Now, sit back down will you," my mother said, still worried.

"Fine mom." I rolled my eyes and sat down again, leading Appa towards the South Pole.

**Zuko:**

"So, Kyra has trained?" I asked my brother-in-law.

He nodded. "She'll kick his ass."

We were looking at our two children, the fourteen-year old Kyra and my thirteen-year old Urso. Every time we visited they would fight each other and Urso almost always lost. If I was my father, I would be disappointed but I was proud of my son. Kyra could practice water bending every day while Urso only could do it once a month and he was great at it.

"Prepare to eat snow, cousin," Kyra smirked and she got into a fighting position.

"Are they at it again?" I heard my wife say behind me.

I turned around and nodded while she stepped closer to us, followed by Suki. "As always."

**Katara:**

I could remember the last time we were here, just a month ago but it seemed as if Urso had trained every day, trying to finally defeat his cousin. He was blocking her attacks like I had never seen before, using walls of ice and sliding from side to side, trying to get closer so he could win. After he dodged some icicles and jumped onto a new attack of Kyra he used the ice beneath him to launch himself in the air. He twirled around when he came down and fell down onto one knee, smirking against my brother's daughter. A gasp came out of her mouth, but not only from hers but out of all our mouths.

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Zuko whispered, looking at the huge hurricane in front of us.

I couldn't answer him, I didn't know how my little boy could do an attack like that. It took me years to learn an attack like that and there he stood, doing it as if it was nothing.

"Are you trying to kill us!" Sokka shouted, running towards his daughter to protect her with his boomerang.

"Sorry uncle Sokka." Urso shrugged his shoulders and soon the water fell down… On top of him.

Everyone started to laugh at my brother's soaked body and he just grumbled. "Just like his mother. Stupid magic tricks."

**Zuko:**

"Again!" I shouted.

We were standing in the royal garden on a field made especially for us. Although my son couldn't practice his water bending here, he could practice his ability with swords. I had to admit it, for his thirteen years he was a strong one and he seemed to move so fast it was almost as if he flew with the air.

He sat down on his knees, sweat pouring down his whole body and he was catching his breath. We had trained for almost five hours, but we had to, he had an important battle coming up but I knew he wouldn't disappoint me, I just wanted him to be prepared.

He stood up and looked at me, with his blue eyes and I suddenly saw the fire in them, not the fire like his mother had within her, but the fire of a fire bender, the determination of one. He ran towards me and I was prepared to block his attack when he suddenly let himself fall to the ground and slid between my two legs. He stood up again in less than a second and I could feel his sword, against my neck.

"You're getting old, dad," he said and he playfully made me fall down to the ground.

"Old? I'm thirty-seven! You little brat!" I shouted before taking him on the ground with me.

"I'll do fine dad, I won't lose tomorrow," he said while we looked up at the clouds.

**Katara:**

I looked down at the field beneath us. I could see my son, standing in front of the general's son. If I had to admit it, I didn't like it one bit, since I didn't like the general. He was a cocky and proud man, someone who would like to be still in war but he was one of the best generals Zuko had and we had to be prepared, even in times of peace.

"I see that a large crowd has gathered for this little battle," he said to my husband who had a smirk on his face. He didn't like the general either, nor his son and I knew that he would be proud if Urso won.

"Yes, indeed. It's not every day that a prince fights a general's son. They're both very well trained despite their young age."

"I don't know about your son, my Lord, but mine sure is," he answered.

I gritted my teeth and decided to look back at my surroundings instead of listening to the general. He would shut up once my boy defeated his.

Thousands of people were looking at the field which was surround with water and beautiful flowers. Two little boys stood in the middle, holding their swords. Of course they weren't allowed to kill or really hurt each other but somehow I had a bad feeling about this.

**Urso:**

"Well well, the Prince thinks he'll be able to beat me," the arrogant boy in front of me said.

"I don't think so, I'm sure I will," I answered, a serious look on my face and getting into a fighting position.

"Prepare to lose." He bowed and grinned evilly.

I glanced up at my mother who had a concerned look in her eyes and I waved at her. I could see that she smiled a little and she waved back at me before turning back to my father.

"You're father is a loser, marrying a water bender. Such a shame that your blood isn't pure," the brown haired boy said.

I turned my head and glared at him. "Don't speak like that about my mother."

"Oh, did I hit a soft spot?" he asked innocently. "Don't worry, the ground will be hitting you next."

I could hear a gong and the audience went silent. I launched myself towards the boy who was a few years older and a head taller than me but I was sure I would win, my father had trained me very well.  
Our swords collided and I could already feel I was stronger than him, this would be so easy.  
"I think you'll be hitting the ground," I simply said before jumping in the air and landing right behind him.

He blocked my attack and we continued battling until after twenty minutes he lay down on the ground, his swords nowhere near him.

"And the winner is Prince Urso!" a man shouted. I walked away a few feet to bow for the crowd when suddenly I heard my mother screaming my name in horror.

I turned around and I could see the general's son, aiming a fire attack towards me. All my life I was taught not to use my bending in the Fire Nation but it was a natural instinct. Soon the water that surrounded the field came towards me and a huge wall of ice protected me.

"Water bender," the boy laughed and I could hear several gaps, coming from the audience.

No one knew I was a water bender, they all thought I was a fire bender, like my father. What would happen now that they knew? Would they think my father had failed them? Would they get mad? Would they banish my mother? Would they banish me? Before I could think about anything else another fire attack was launched at me and I used my bending to protect me once more.

"Fire is superior to water, you won't win against me," he said and soon I could feel the water around me heating up, it was disappearing in the air.

When I had only a little amount of water left I could hear my mother, screaming my father's name. I looked up and I could see the general, holding him with his collar and his fist was all fire. I knew what he was going to do, he was going to punish my father for raising a water bender instead of a fire bender.

Something inside of me snapped and I could feel a power overwhelming me. All the water was gone, there was nothing left but dirt on the ground of the battle field and it made me lose control that I couldn't do anything about it.

"Leave my father alone!" I shouted towards the general and before I could even realize what had happened a huge wall of earth rose around the general and he let go of my father.

"Who did that?" I heard my father ask my mother.

She was looking down at me and when I turned my head I noticed that everyone was. The brown haired boy in front of me looked up in shock and kneeled down. I looked up again, trying to find some answers in my mother's eyes and I could see my father, standing next to her with the same shocked expression everyone had.

"What's wrong?" I shouted but no one answered me, no one but the arrogant boy in front of me.

"Avatar, Urso," he whispered.

I took a step back and shook my head. Avatar Urso? I had heard about the Avatar before, he was an air bender but he died which meant he or she would be born at the Water Tribe, almost fourteen years ago. He was the master of all the four elements, air, water, earth and fire.

I looked at my own feet and I could see the earth on the ground shaking a little, little boulders raising.

"Mom, what's happening?" I shouted when I saw that she was now running over the field, towards me.

When she was close enough I could see my own reflection in her blue eyes and to my surprise my eyes had a light blue glow.

"You're the Avatar, my son," she said before bowing down in front of me.

**Zuko:**

"I don't understand uncle, he can't be the Avatar!" I shouted.

Katara was sitting at the table with Urso, looking at thousands of toys.

"We will soon see," my uncle answered and we both looked down at Urso who was picking toys.

After five minutes he had found the four ones he thought were cool and my uncle smiled. "You've picked some nice toys, my boy."

"I know," Urso answered. "I've never seen them before but yet they seem so familiar…"

I looked down at the four things he had picked and to my surprise it were the ones from the Avatar his past life.

"How can he be?" Katara whispered, shaking her head. She seemed lost in thoughts when she suddenly looked down to Urso again. "The day you were born…"

"What happened the day I was born?" my son asked.

"Your father left the room and I could hear Aang, the former Avatar telling me that I should be happy. What if he was still alive, somehow? Then his spirit must have lived on in you…" She looked back to the table, a frown on her forehead.

"Did you know the Avatar?" Urso asked.

We both looked at our son and neither of us knew how to respond. We had never told him his mother had been in love with the Avatar, was this the right time to do so?

"Remember the story gran gran always told you, about the war and how suddenly after hundred years the Avatar was found again by a little girl and her brother? How they traveled the world so the Avatar could learn the four elements and eventually defeat the Fire Lord?" my wife asked.

Urso nodded. "I remember. She always told me that's the way grandpa was defeated, by the Avatar. But why didn't he defeat dad then? I always wondered why but she never answered to my questions."

"Because, the little girl that found the Avatar was me and your uncle Sokka. We traveled the world, trying to escape from the Prince, who wanted to capture Aang so he would get his honor back."

"Dad?" my son asked and I nodded.

"But your father changed, he became our ally and thaught the Avatar how to bend fire."

"So is that when you and dad fell in love?" the little boy asked, now very interested.

"No," Katara shook her head. "I fell in love with the Avatar."

"You fell in love with me?" Urso shouted, standing up and taking a few steps back.

"Calm down, it's not that I love the Avatar himself. I loved the person behind the Avatar, I loved Aang. Of course I love you too, but I love you like any mother loves her child."

"Then how did you fall in love with dad?" he asked.

"She fell in love with me after Aang died, at least we thought he did. Now it seems that he managed to survive but we are sure he was attacked by a group of earth and fire benders. Now the world knows that you're the new Avatar you must do everything you can to master the four elements, beginning with earth and fire, ending with air. We were never able to locate the ones that killed Aang and I have a bad feeling they'll come after you," I answered my son.

"How will I be able to learn air bending? There aren't any air benders on the planet," my son said, clearly thinking about his new journey.

I looked at my uncle, knowing Urso was right. He couldn't learn air bending, he never could.


	7. Earth

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own ATLA! Mike and Bryan do ^^' This is just fanmade. I do own Urso, Taisha, Kyra and Jaden.**

**Chapter six: Earth**

**Urso:**

"Don't call me Twinkletoes!" I shouted at the blind woman in front of me. Although she was my mother's best friend I absolutely hated her when she gave me that stupid nickname.

"Now now, don't get mad at me," she laughed. "I've heard that you were already able to make a wall of earth to protect your father, I'm sure that you'll be able to learn earth bending very quickly."

"I wouldn't be sure about that, mom."

I turned my head to face Taisha, Toph and Teo's daughter. It had been years since I last seen her, I must've been seven and she was six but now she was twelve years old and smirking at me.

"Prepare to eat powder!" I shouted at the girl and I jumped up in the air, using the water of their pond to turn it into snow. She covered herself with a wall of earth and started to laugh.

"I'm so sorry for you mom, that you have to train him!"

Toph coughed and when we both turned our heads I could see that she was smirking. Her daughter definitely looked like her. "Then why don't you train him, Taisha?"

"What?" we both screamed and the black haired woman just turned around and waved at us with the back of her hand.

"I think I heard your father call me, you know what he's like when he invents something new." Toph soon let herself fall into the ground and appeared at the back door of her house two seconds later.

"Have fun!" she shouted.

"Guess it's you and me then," the emerald-eyed girl in front of me said before getting into a fighting position. This was going to be a very, very, very long day…

**Taisha:**

"Hey little one, wake up will you."

I grunted and turned myself in my bed, taking the sheets closer to myself. "I'm not little," I murmured. "Go away, it's just past midnight, I'm trying to sleep…"

"I want to show you something," the annoying boy said again. He had been training here for almost a year now and he was getting better at earth bending, but he still wasn't better than me.

"Urso, leave our room!" Kyra shouted at her cousin. After a few weeks, Sokka had brought Kyra, to train with Urso to make sure his water bending kept improving. Katara was currently at the Southern Pole, teaching little water benders and Zuko was, as always, occupied with being the Fire Lord. Twice a month Urso would leave to visit his parents and when he got back, he always had the sudden urge to show us something new.

"Oh, come on Kyra, it's pretty cool!" he whined playfully, not noticing I was aiming a pillow at his head.

"Oh fine, go to bed, stupid earth bender," he said before heading towards the door.

"What did you call me?" I asked, getting out of my bed. Kyra groaned and turned back to us, clearly not interested and just wanting to sleep.

He just laughed and ran outside, me following him. Although I knew this was just one of his tricks, so he could get me out of my bed I always ran after him, aiming some attacks at his feet to make him stop. When we got outside Appa groaned too, he clearly wanted to sleep as well but Urso seemed as if he just woke up, he always had too much energy.

"Now, stop!" I shouted and soon a part of my father's new invention flew at his feet, the metal surrounding him. This was something my mother had taught me, metal bending, and I smirked because I knew Urso wasn't going to get away.

"Nice trick," the dark haired boy said before he moved his arms and the metal went back to my father's invention, "but I shouldn't destroy your father's things."

"What the?"

He smirked back at me and let himself fall into the ground before appearing right behind me and locking my arms behind my back.

"Like _my_ new tricks?" he whispered in my ear and I felt a chill running down my spine. Although I would never admit it, I had fallen in love with the Avatar, with the future Fire Lord.

I slowly turned around to look up into his azure eyes. It was great that he had mastered the last stage of earth bending and that he was able to bend metal also but this would mean he would have to go back home, to learn fire bending.

"I guess this means you're going back home then," I said to him and he nodded.

"Taisha," he whispered when I looked at my feet, trying to hide the disappointment in my eyes. "Taisha," he said with a demanding tone which caused me to look up. He had that tone in his voice, the tone only a prince could have.

"Yes?" I whispered, still trying not to look into his eyes.

"Look at me," he demaned.

I shook my head and continued looking at his chest when suddenly his hand took my chin and he lifted my head so I had to look into his eyes. Confusion was filling them and I wondered why.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concern now filling my voice.

"What's wrong with you?" he answered. "Why are you crying?"

I hadn't noticed it before but I apparently was. He put out his hand and whipped my tears away before I answered his question and rested my head onto his chest.

"I'll miss you."

**Urso:**

This was my last day with Taisha and Kyra and we decided to go on a little hiking trip in the woods. We were still close to the village and we were following the path to the river that crossed the forest. I was too occupied thinking that I didn't realize the sounds of the village were disappearing and the ones from flowing water were welcoming us. What had happened last night with Taisha? I had always thought of her as my little sister but when she rested her head onto my chest and told me she would miss me it suddenly hit me, I had fallen in love with her. Her emerald eyes were now filled with joy and her dark brown hairs moved with every step she took, she was mesmerizing. Why hadn't I seen this before?

"Hey Urso!" I heard my cousin shout and when I turned around I could see her standing there, with her hands on her hips, sometimes she reminded me a little bit of mom.

"Yes?" I asked, curious to what she was about to say.

"I've said your name for over five times now, you really seemed lost in thoughts," she answered, walking past me towards Taisha. "But as I was trying to say, you're going in the wrong direction.

I raised an eyebrow when she pointed towards the water of the river and noticed that my feet were indeed in the wrong direction. Maybe I really needed to pay a little bit more attention.

"Well hello there."

The three of us looked up and I could see a black haired boy, standing onto a branch before leaping down. He was smirking and clearly checking out my cousin which caused her to take a few steps back.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before," he answered before Kyra pulled a huge wall of ice in front of her, clearly glad that the water wasn't too far away from us.

"Hmm, you're a bender," the boy continued before jumping up again and landing right behind Kyra. "Interesting…"

"Jaden!" The boy's eyes widened in shock and he turned around to face an older woman. She must've been almost sixty years old, her dark hairs clearly starting to grey and she frowned a little.

"I'm sorry," he murmured before running away.

The old woman rolled her eyes and soon the dark haired boy was trapped by a wall of fire, keeping him from running any further. "No you're not," she answered. "Your mother and father told me to watch out for you, running away from me is not going to help you."

"Yes Miss," the boy said before he returned towards the woman who now smiled lovingly.

"Sometimes you remind me of my son, he was adventurous like you," she answered. "But you act as dangerous as your parents."

He smiled a bit and the woman suddenly noticed us. "And who may you be?" she asked.

"I'm Kyra and this is Taisha," my cousin answered. "That's Urso."

"Urso," the woman murmured. "You must be Fire Nation."

"Yes miss," I answered. Something into those two amber eyes made her look familiar. "You are too, I see."

"Not anymore," she smiled. "I've lived in the woods for almost twenty years now, I don't come out much, Jaden here always does the groceries."

"He's not just Fire Nation," Kyra said while rolling her eyes. "He's the prince!"

The old woman gasped and took a step back and Jaden seemed excited. "The prince?" he shouted. "Then you must be the Avatar too! Someone in the village was talking about it, you're originally a water bender, aren't you?"

"Yes," I answered.

"They were talking about your fight with some kid and that you had to use water bending to protect yourself. But I'm curious why they didn't punish your parents back then," he said. "Did they already know you were the Avatar?"

"No, but I was fighting a son of one the generals. When the general noticed I was a water bender he attacked my father and somehow I managed to protect him with a wall of earth," I replied.

"That's just awesome! And…" before the boy could ask another question the older woman spoke again.

"Who is your father, boy?" she asked, her amber eyes seeming as if they were going to cry.

"Fire Lord Zuko," I said, suddenly realizing who this woman reminded me of, my father.

"He's still alive?" she asked, hope filling her voice.

"Yes, do you know my father?"

"Have your parents told you about your family before?"

"Not really. My father only told me about his mother, uncle Iroh told me about my grandpa and aunt, they're both locked away in jail for many years now. Why?"

The old woman smiled and closed her eyes. "My name is Ursa," she whispered. "I am your grandmother."

**Zuko:**

Katara had been gone for almost three months now but she would soon return. There were some more advanced water benders who could teach the little ones, she wouldn't have to stay long. As always I was sitting down at the pond, making waves with my feet. The nights without her were even more empty than the days were and now that my son was gone I felt more alone. A sigh escaped my lips and I looked up at the moon, thinking of my two water benders.

"I hope I'm not interrupting you," a female voice behind me said and I smiled a little. Soon the woman sat next to me and took my hand in hers. "I've missed you," she said.

"I've missed you too."

She smiled and turned her head to face me. Her long brown hairs hung down her shoulders and when I looked into her azure eyes I couldn't hold myself together. I almost launched myself at her but when my lips touched her and I could feel her body, falling down I could feel the cold snow that soon turned into ice underneath her.

"I'm sorry," I murmured before hovering her with my whole body and kissing her again. Her lips tasted a little bit salty, as always when she went to the South Pole and I could feel her smile beneath me while hugging me closer to her.

"You're home so soon," I said before standing up and picking her up into my arms. Slowly the ice she just had made to break her fall went back into the pond and she locked her arms around my neck.

"Kyra came back," she whispered. "Urso has mastered earth bending, he took me here with Appa and he has a little surprise for you in the morning."

"A surprise?" I asked.

"Yes, but don't you worry, you're going to like it," she assured me.

"So, you've already seen my surprise?"

The door of our room opened when I kicked it with my foot and she nodded once before lifting her face to meet mine. "I have, but please let Urso sleep, he's very tired. I'm sure that you can wait till the morning."

The door closed behind me and I laid the Fire Lady onto our bed, smirking down at her. "I wasn't planning on waking Urso any time soon," I whispered seductively and the blue-eyed woman laughed.

"I thought you were going to say that." Her hands found their way to my chest before she started to kiss me again and soon she turned me onto my back to trail kisses along my neck and abdomen.

"You know me too well," I said to my wife before taking control again.

**Katara:**

I looked at my husband and smiled before giving him a kiss on his forehead. He groaned a bit and turned in his sleep.

"I'm going to check upon Urso, are you ready in half an hour to eat breakfast?" I asked, climbing out of the bed.

"No," he said with a rough voice and I felt his hand taking mine. Zuko pulled me back onto the bed and kissed me on the lips. "Now I'm ready to wake up," he laughed and I punched his arm playfully before getting up and taking my dressing gown.

I walked through the hallways, servants bowing their heads when they saw me and I bowed back, just to be polite. When I knocked onto my son's bedroom door it swung open and he smiled at me, still a bit sleepy.

"Hey mom, I thought it was you." A big yawn escaped his lips and he walked back into his room, falling onto his bed.

"Had a rough night?" I asked, caressing his face.

He nodded slightly, clearly too tired to make a comment about me, being sweet to him. He would never admit it, but he liked the fact that I sometimes still treated him like my little baby. That's what he would always be, my baby boy.

"How comes?" I asked, standing up and looking into his closet for some clothes he could wear. We really need to buy some new ones, he had grown a lot the past year. "Because of grandma?"

"Not really," he answered, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "It's just that… I miss Taisha…"

I turned around and started to laugh. "Has little prince Urso fallen in love?"

"Mom!" he shouted. "I'm not little, I'm fourteen and I'm…"

"Yes?" I asked, sitting back down next to him.

"In love."

"Then tell her," I said to him, rubbing his back to give him some mental support.

**Zuko:**

I entered the dining room, surprised to see five plates instead of three. What was this surprise Urso had for me? Did he bring some friends? Or did my uncle Iroh come back with him when he came home from the Earth Kingdom?

The door opened behind me and I turned around, thinking it was my wife. "Katara, why…" I stopped when I looked into two amber eyes, my eyes.

"Hello Zuko," the old woman said and I blinked a few times, not sure if I really was awake.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Man, you're house is just awesome, Urso!" I heard a young man's voice shout and soon my son came in, followed by a dark haired boy and my wife.

"Hey miss Ursa, why didn't you tell me you were a princess?" he asked when he noticed my mother.

"And you are?"

The boy looked up to me but before he could answer Katara did. "He's the son of Jet and Jun."

"Jet and Jun?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I looked at the little boy who sure did look like Jet, although he had a pale white skin and black hairs like his mother.

"He lived with me ever since his parents died," the woman in front of me said and I turned back to my mother. "I hope you don't mind, I couldn't leave him alone…"

"Mom," I interrupted her. "I'm just glad that you're back."

She smiled at me and took a step forward, closing her eyes. I had never cried in front of someone before but this was the first time I did, when I fell into my mother's arms. Her wet tears hit my shoulder and I could hear her whisper my name against it.

"I'm glad you're home," I said when she took a step back, still holding me with my shoulders.

"I'm glad too, my son."


	8. Fire and air

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own ATLA! Mike and Bryan do ^^' This is just fanmade. I do own Urso, Taisha, Kyra and Jaden.**

**(A/N: For everyone one who has facebook and agrees with me, just type 'I wanted Dante Basco to play Zuko in ATLA the movie' in the search box and then use the 'like' button.)**

**Chapter seven: Fire and air**

**Zuko:**

Another year passed by and Urso was learning how to bend fire. I was his master, of course, and often my mother would watch our training sessions together with Jaden, who became my son's best friend. Together they learned how to improve their sword fighting skills and he even accompanied us on our trips to the South Pole. But that had a totally different reason, named Kyra. They had the same age and Urso once told me that his friend had shown his interest towards his cousin at their first meeting. When I asked my son if he had fallen in love I never gotten an answer, although I knew he was feeling something for Taisha. Even if his mother hadn't told me, I could see it whenever those two were together.

My thinking made me distracted and I heard my mother laughing when my son had me pinned to the ground and was telling me that I was an old man, again.

"Hey Urso!"

The three of us turned around when Taisha ran into the garden, followed by her mother and Katara, both giggling like teenage girls when they noticed the reaction their children had when they saw each other. Katara could see the wide smile onto Urso's face, and the little blush on Taisha's but Toph could feel both of their hearts beating faster. I wondered how long it would take them to tell each other the truth.

**Urso:**

She walked towards me, her arms open for a hug and I was a bit impatient, I want her to get into my arms already. I simply lifted the ground beneath the tile she just stood on and I pulled it closer to me, causing her to laugh and crash against my chest at the same time.

"Hey there handsome," she teased me before whipping some dirt of my face. All that training didn't make me look very clean but she didn't mind, she never did.

She gave me a wide smile before letting me go and walking over to my best friend Jaden who got a high five. Sometimes she was a bit of a tomboy, but I liked her that way.

"So, do you have a new trick to show me?" she said while crossing her arms and tapping on the ground impatiently with one foot.

I smiled a little, remembering how I used to wake her up during the nights to show her something and nodded. "Actually, I want to show all of you something new."

I turned around and took a deep breath, breathing was everything in fire bending, and closed my eyes to concentrate. My two hands touched each other slightly and I made a little ball of fire between them before opening my arms and blowing my hot breath out in front of me. I formed a little circle of fire, using my arms to draw it's form and raised them so a huge tower of fire was standing in front of me.

"A wall of fire? I've seen you making walls of water and earth before, it's not that impressive," Taisha said with a teasing tone and I turned my head, smirking.

"Look at the top, little one."

Before she could answer to my comment about her height my father gasped which caused her to look up immediately. A huge dragon, made out of fire was now crawling out of the wall that was slowly disappearing. The dragon was actually my breath, it took his power from the surrounding walls and after a few minutes the beast was turning himself around me, as if it had a life of itself.

"It's…" she stammered "beautiful…" Her eyes wandered over the dragon and I let the fire go around her, carefully. She turned around in circles and laughed like a little kid who got a new toy before I let the dragon come back to me and disappear in thin air.

"You're so in control of it," my father murmured while giving me a questioning look. "Sometimes it's strange how much in control you are of things, as if they're not just fire, earth or water, they're a part of you."

"Come on dad, you're making me blush," I said before picking up my shirt and walking towards my friends.

**Katara:**

As every night, Zuko and I walked through the palace, heading for our pond when suddenly the view of two people stopped us. I pushed my husband behind the corner and looked at the two shades, making their ways through the hallway as well.

"Is that Urso?" he whispered, now looking over my shoulder to take a look as well.

"And Taisha," I said with a smile on my face when I turned back to my husband. "Guess no pond for us this night."

He grinned and placed a gentle, soft kiss on my lips before taking my hand and heading in the other direction.

"Let's take a fly," he stated while we walked into one of the stables where Appa was. The huge arrow on his head made me remember something very important, air bending.

"Zuko," I whispered, taking his arm and shaking my head.

"Don't you want to go on a ride with Appa?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to, it's just… How is Urso going to learn air bending?"

The fire lord walked up to me and took my chin into his hand. "I'll figure something out," he promised before placing his lips onto my forehead.

**Zuko:**

Another year passed and still Urso hadn't learned how to bend air. It was essential that he knew how to and I wondered if there was ever going to be another Avatar who could learn air bending. There had to be balance in the world, right? Then why weren't there any air benders born, because the last one actually died?

I patted Appa at the side of his head and told him to land in the middle of the city of the Northern Water Tribe. Today was the wedding of a royal member and as always, we needed to go to these kind of things.

"Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Lady Katara" the king greeted me and I bowed before taking my wife's hand and walking towards the palace. "Uhm…" We both turned around, wondering what was wrong with the man who now scratched the back of his head. "Should I call you Avatar or Prince Urso?"

My son started to laugh and laid his hand upon the man's shoulder, assuring him that 'Urso' would be just fine.

**Urso:**

I absolutely knew no one at this party so I decided to sneak out and go for a little walk. Most people just wanted to talk to me because I was the Avatar or because I was a prince but I wasn't interested in them, I needed a bit of fun. It was a shame that Jaden was currently at the Southern Water Pole, together with my cousin. They had been dating for almost a year now and I wondered if I would ever have the courage to tell Taisha how I felt about her…

I stopped in my tracks when suddenly something caught my attention. It wasn't something I could see, hear or smell, it was something that I felt deep inside. I started to follow another path through the city which was empty because of the wedding and soon I found myself standing into a garden. Yes, a garden. It was filled with grass and it seemed warmer too, it didn't belong in the middle of the ice. The little pond caught my attention and when I walked over to it I could see two fish, swimming in circles.

"Pffft," I sighed before sitting down on the grass and closing my eyes.

**Aang:**

I walked through the forests of the Spirit world, trying to catch Momo who ran away from me when suddenly I could feel something change. (A/N: Momo died too T-T)

"Aang."

I turned around and I saw a beautiful white haired woman standing in front of me.

"Yue?" I asked her and she nodded. "What are you doing here? You should be up there." I pointed my finger towards the night sky and she smiled at me.

"I brought you someone."

I raised an eyebrow but soon I could see the blurry figure of a black haired teenage boy appearing next to her.

"It was nice seeing you again," the young woman said before she disappeared again, going back to the moon.

"Uhm, excuse me," the boy said which caused me to look at him again. I looked down into two azure eyes, her eyes, and felt my heart skip a beat.

"Yes?" I asked, my voice a bit rough, remembering the woman I once loved, Katara.

"Where am I?" the boy's eyes wandered over the strange trees and then over my body, noticing the air bender tattoos. "Wait a second," he murmured. "You're Aang, you're the former Avatar. Does this mean I'm dead?"

I laughed at the boy in front of me and shook my head. "You're in the spirit world, but I guess that you're just in the Avatar state, Urso."

"How do you know my name?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I am a spirit, I am supposed to know these things. Besides, you have your mother's eyes." I pointed towards him and he smiled a little, nodding in agreement.

"Why am I here?" he asked, now walking behind me.

"Because you needed to," I answered him and before he could ask another question he suddenly noticed the flying creature I had been chasing the last half hour.

"Momo!" he shouted which caused him an attack and a hug at the same time. "Boy, I haven't seen you in ages!"

It was strange to look at this boy, he looked a lot like Zuko when we were young, had Katara's eyes but he seemed as happy as I was. He sure was an unique combination of the three of us.

"Which elements have you already mastered?" I asked the young Avatar.

"All of them, except for air of course. But that's why I'm here, isn't it? So I can learn how to bend air?" he asked, patting Momo's head.

"Not only that, there is something you need to know. The way I died," I answered him.

**Urso:**

I couldn't really remember how long I had been in the spirit world, it must've been ages but I was now able to control air bending and it would soon be time to return home. Aang was a great teacher, he learned me all cool tricks, and soon I was as fast as him, using the air around me to become faster. Although I was often a happy person and Aang and I pulled a lot of pranks on each other, we were both bothered. Bothered by the fact that once I returned, I would have to face a new enemy, the ones who killed Aang, but this time, I wouldn't do it alone. My family and friends would help me to defeat the earth and fire benders, once we found where they were hiding. Aang thought I was lucky, that they hadn't attacked me yet just because I was raised in the palace, guarded by hundreds of people but soon I would have to face them.

Lost inside my thoughts, I didn't see Aang using a wave of water to get my attention back and we both started to laugh, seeing my soaked body.

"It's time for you to return home, Urso," the young man said and I nodded.

"How do I get back?" I asked, standing onto my two feet.

"I'll guide you," he assured me. "Time works different in the Spirit World, so nothing will have changed when you go back. You're now a fully trained Avatar, it is time that you show this to the people, so they can accept you."

I nodded and looked into the former Avatar's grey eyes. "Aang, I now see why my mother loved you and why my father saw you as a friend. Although your spirit is in me, you're my friend too."

He smiled at me and gave me a hug before laying his hand upon my head, ruffling through my hair. "That means a lot to me," he whispered. "Take care of your mother, and make sure your father doesn't get too old for fighting too quickly," he joked. "Now go."

**Katara:**

"Where's Urso?" I asked the black haired man beside me. He looked around the room, over the couples who were dancing and shrugged his shoulders.

Suddenly the statue at the end of the room light up, the statue of Avatar Kuruk and everyone's head turned. As soon as the light came it disappeared again and Zuko and I stood up immediately, looking for our son when the doors behind us opened. It seemed as if he had matured, not physically but emotionally and the whole room went silent. He lifted a plate of ice under his feet and slid into the room while playing with some rocks he had found somewhere, using his earth bending. The plate stopped and merged with the ground once he reached the statue of the former Avatar and he let out a deep breath, causing a little bit of fire to form in front of him. He opened his arms and closed them again, creating wind that made every candle in the room go out. I heard him take another breath and soon the room was lightened up again and he spoke to all the people.

"Will you take me as your avatar?" he asked.

The whole room bowed, for the fully trained Avatar and I could see how proud Zuko was off his son when he smiled at me and kneeled.


	9. The party

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own ATLA! Mike and Bryan do ^^' This is just fanmade. I do own Urso, Taisha, Kyra and Jaden.******

**(A/N: This would be a good time to start thanking people who're reading my story. So, ahum: Everyone on DeviantArt and FanFiction, you're the greatest Avatards, Zutarians, readers, I could possibly wish for. It means a lot to me that you put your time in reading my story. + Who loveeees Urso x Taisha shipping? Since Storyteller21 (dA) told me she liked the shipping ;D I think Taiso is cool, or does anyone prefer Taiurso/Ursha? Anyway, to give you a better image of those two, I'm going to write this chapter and dedicate it to Storyteller21. That makes me wonder… How about Kyra and Jaden? Kyden/Jary/Jadyra? xD Just let me know something, okay? Now, let's do this thingy :D)**

**Chapter eight: The party**

**Zuko:**

Now that Urso had mastered the four elements a big celebration was held at the palace. Guests from the four nations walked through the big red doors and we greeted every single one of them before a servant lead them to their table. Katara and my mother had spent weeks, organizing this party and it amused me when I saw those two together, they were very much alike. My mother always used to take care of me when I was a little boy and my wife seemed to do the same thing with her son, but maybe that was just the thing mother's do.

"Ah, Fire Lord Zuko, it is so nice of you to invite us," I heard a familiar voice say and once I turned around, Katara turning with me 'cause she was holding my arm, I could hear a load sound of someone swallowing. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my son, checking out the girl in front of him and I had to suppress a chuckle.

"Hey there Toph," I said before giving her a hug. "Teo."

"No, I don't want to hear it!"

We all turned around when we heard Sokka's voice and soon the doors opened again, the middle aged man walking in soaked from top to bottom, followed by his wife and daughter.

"Oh, come on dad, it wasn't my fault," the brown haired girl answered, crossing her arms and frowning a little.

"What are you trying to say young lady? That I _fell_ into that stupid little pond?" he asked, crossing his arms as well.

"Actually, you did Sokka," Suki answered, which caused all of us to laugh.

**Urso:**

She was sitting right in front of me, her emerald eyes now locked onto the plate in front of her. Occasionally she would look up to speak but she never looked at me and I wondered why. What had happened over the past few months? Had she met someone? Had I insulted her?

A big sigh escaped my lips before I put a potato in my mouth and started to chew on it. There was one thing positive about her not looking at me though. I could look at her as much as I wanted, and boy, was she a sight. Normally she would wear comfortable clothes and her hair was just in a ponytail or hung down her shoulders but today she had dressed up, something her father had probably encouraged her and her mother to do. There was a certain dress code for parties in the Fire Nation's palace and all of the guests were clothed in red, golden and black suits or dresses but no one looked as stunning as she did. Her hairs were in a nice French bun, some hairs covering the side of her face and she had applied just a little bit of make-up. The dress she was wearing hugged every curve of her body and I noticed myself following the lines of the red material. When she came in I noticed that there were golden flowers, at the right bottom of it and she wore black heels, probably trying to become a little bit taller. But then again, I didn't need her to be, she was perfect as she was, my little princess…

I almost chocked into my food which caused Jaden to hit me on the back a few times. Princess? Did I really saw her as a princess? As _my_ princess?

"Hey bro, are you okay?" the dark haired boy next to me said and I nodded, trying to avoid Taisha's gaze. I was sure that she was looking to me now, I could feel her eyes, resting on me, wondering what had happened.

"Yeah, guess I was just lost in my thoughts," I smiled before taking my glass of water.

**Taisha:**

There he stood, in the middle of the room. Never had I bowed before him, but this would be different. He wasn't my best friend, he was the Avatar now. He took a deep breath and soon his arms and legs were moving in all sorts of directions, the four elements soon surrounding him when suddenly his head turned to me, his blue eyes looking at me and a smile crept upon his face before he shook his head and spoke.

"I believe that the Avatar should be able to master four elements," he said. With every word he spoke, my heart skipped a beat. I would recognize his voice anywhere, it had something mysterious and full of wisdom although he was just a sixteen-year old boy.

"But I can master six," he continued.

Some people in the audience gasped and he pointed at me with one of his arms, telling me to come closer. At least, I thought he was but soon I felt the two metal bracelets around my arms forcing my arms to come closer to each other and before I knew it I was wearing chains.

"Hey! Not fair!" I shouted and I pulled my arms back to my sides, letting the bracelets fall onto the ground. "You're going to get that back," I smirked, and soon the two metal bracelets flew towards him, pinning his arms down to the ground.

"Well well, prince Urso. You really don't need to bow for me," I teased him and soon the two bracelets were around my arms again since he used his bending on me.

"Enough playing," he said out loud but he took a step closer to me, as if he was going to give me a hug and whispered in my ears. "For now."

I took a step back, raising an eyebrow when his hand shot up in the air, electric sparks coming out of it and the audience clapped before Iroh announced that Urso was the new Avatar.

I went back to my place and kneeled down for him. Soon people were surrounding him, congratulating him and talking to him about grown up matters. I watched him from my seat and I could feel sadness and loneliness deep inside of me. This was the hard truth, he was the Avatar, he was a prince, he was much more than me.

**Urso:**

"Hey, have you guys seen Taisha?" my cousin and best friend shook their heads, continuing their dance less than a second later.

Ever since I had teased her a bit with my metal bending she had disappeared, she was nowhere to be found. I ran outside of the ballroom, towards the garden. It was the only place I could think of right now, since her parents were still at the party she couldn't have gone home already. I remembered the night we sat down at the pound, just looking up at the stars without saying a thing. It was the best conversation of my life, although we both hadn't said a word.

"Taisha!" I shouted when I came into the garden and soon I saw a silhouette in the dark, the sound of little waves surrounding her.

I smirked a little and used the water of the pond to make a bridge of ice, a bridge between her and me. Soon she slid towards my feet and I put out my hand, trying to get her up. She shook her head, a bit startled and stood back onto her two feet, turning her back to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, laying my hand upon her shoulder.

Before I could even notice she had already pinned me against a wall, my arms and legs stretched out so I had nowhere to go.

"I'm wrong," she whispered, pain hiding in her eyes. How much I wanted that pain to go away…

"What do you mean?" I asked when she let the dirt fall back onto the ground.

"I'm just an earth bender," she whispered, turning her back to me again. "You're a prince, you're the Avatar. You couldn't be my friend…"

Was this why she had been so silent? Because she thought she wasn't good enough to be my friend?

"Taisha," I said softly, taking her by her shoulders to turn her around. She was looking at her own feet, scared to look into my eyes but I simply lifted her chin.

Whatever I was about to say just disappeared, somewhere in the back of my head when my azure orbs met her emerald ones. She was so beautiful that I couldn't stop myself, I just had to tell her how I felt. Well, tell…

**Taisha:**

His mouth hung open a bit, as if he was about to say something but there wasn't a sound, or even a simple breath coming out of it. He just stared down at me, his azure eyes captivating me, they were so beautiful, he was so beautiful. The next thing I knew where his lips, touching mine and I could feel myself smiling when he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer towards him.

"You're not wrong," he breathed out heavily when he let go of my lips. "You're just right, you're perfect to me."

**Katara:**

I stood on the balcony, a smile on my face when I saw my son and Taisha, standing at the pond in a tight embrace. A sigh escaped my lips when I remembered the first kiss I shared with Zuko. The Fire Lord's grip around my waist tightened and he laid his head upon my shoulder, smelling the scent of my neck and closing his eyes while doing so. He could enjoy these moments as much as I could, just being together and not saying a word. Our son was very like him, he always had been and I was happy, because I knew everything would turn out just fine, at least, I thought they would.

"Katara?" the most intriguing voice I knew said to me. (A/N: Dante Basco's voice just makes me want to drool sometimes xD) Whenever he said my name I felt special inside. There was a little change in his voice whenever he did, something that claimed me as _his_.

"Mmh?"

"You know that I love you, right?" he asked, still breathing in my scent.

"I love you too," I whispered, enjoying his arms around me like the brown haired girl beneath us enjoyed my son's arms.

**Kyra:**

I looked into my boyfriend's grey eyes and smiled before giving him a quick peck on the lips. He ruffled his hand through my long brown hairs playfully and we ran into the hallway, trying to find our friends when suddenly the sound of two men approaching stopped us in our tracks. We had no idea why, but we both felt like this was going to be important, that we needed to hear whatever they were talking about. Once the two men passed I looked at Jaden in shock, seeing the same expression in his eyes.

"What are we going to do now?" I whispered.

"Tell Urso," he answered before taking my hand and running towards the garden.

**Urso:**

The sound of two people running towards us made me loosen my grip a bit but I kept starring into Taisha's emerald eyes and she kept on doing the same, smiling at me.

"Urso, you need to get your father right now!" my best friend shouted.

Two shadows on the balcony above us moved and I knew that my father was already listening.

"Why?" I asked.

"There were these men, they were fire benders, I think. They were talking about something at the Southern Air Temple, that they found a solution for the Avatar, that they know how to end the cycle, for good. That they know how to kill the Avatar, how to kill you," he said hurriedly but I just stayed calm and nodded.

"I know that they want to kill me," I answered. "They've killed me before, sixteen years ago."

My mother had quickly made a ladder out of ice and was now climbing down the balcony together with my father, wanting to know what was going on.

"When Aang taught me how to bend air, he told me about the ones that killed him. They're a union of fire benders and earth benders, and he said that they were coming for me again, that I wasn't attacked just because I was guarded very well."

"Why do they want to kill you?" Taisha asked, concern filling her voice while the grip she had on my shirt tightened.

"The Avatar is meant to bring balance in the world, but also to prevent war and such things. During the war these fire and earth benders moved from town to town, getting all the luxury and power they could get and when Aang came back they were forced to hide somewhere. They want that power back, the power that Ozai once gave them, they want _war_."

"Then what should we do?" Jaden asked.

I smiled at my friend and I could see he was already making plans on how to defeat them, plans I had made long ago.

"We're going to fight," I replied.


	10. The fight

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own ATLA! Mike and Bryan do ^^' This is just fanmade. I do own Urso, Taisha, Kyra and Jaden.**

**Chapter nine: The fight**

**Katara:**

I watched my only son, walking towards the entrance of the Southern Air Temple. The black haired girl next to me tensed up and her mother was controlling every move he made.  
After about two minutes no one but Toph saw where he was going and sometimes she frowned a little which caused everyone to get into their positions but she just raised her hand, telling us everything was still okay.

Ten minutes later she still hadn't spoken and Zuko was getting impatient. He didn't like it that Urso was all alone in that building, neither did I.

"So, what's happening?" he finally asked.

"Nothing," Toph answered. "There's no one in there, no one but him…" She blinked once and her head turned the opposite direction, looking at the sea behind us.

"They're near the water," she said. "Taisha, go and get Urso, now!" she ordered her daughter who jumped over the boulders and ran as fast as she could, screaming my son's name.

"How many of them are there?" Zuko asked.

"About three hundred," Toph murmured.

I looked from left to right and saw the worried expressions of my family. There were only nine of us, Taisha and Urso excluded. This was going to be a rough fight…

**Urso:**

I had spent almost fifteen minutes, walking through the temple when I suddenly heard Taisha screaming my name. My head turned slightly, scanning my surroundings so I would know which direction she was coming from and she was running through the main hall as fast as she could, breathing loudly.

"They're outside!" she shouted and I quickly took her by the arm, using my airbending to get out of there as quickly as possible.

**Zuko:**

I could see my mother, protecting my uncle after he got hit by an electric shock. At my right Katara and Kyra were having trouble getting water from the ocean beneath us, we were too far from their element, something that worked in our disadvantage. Taisha and Toph managed to hold their ground using their metalbending and Sokka and Suki were using their fighting techniques together with Jaden. I managed to block a fire attack when suddenly I heard a crazy laughter behind me. Everyone stopped fighting and turned to see my sister, Azula.

"Well well Zuzu," she laughed hysterically, two fireballs in her hands. "It's so nice to meet you again."

"What are you doing here?" Katara shouted and my sister grinned at her evily.

"Water peasant," she bowed slightly before hitting my wife with one of her fireballs which caused all of us to battle again.

I ran and ran, trying to get to her but I had to fight walls of earth and fire, trying to get to her when I heard Azula's hysterical laughter again.

"Let's give her a scar as well," she said while smirking to me and I could see how the fire went over Katara's entire arm, her body trembling when she screamed my name in pain.

**Urso:**

I could see my father, trying to get to my mother and I was doing the same thing, breaking down the walls of earth and running through the walls of fire using my air bending when suddenly I could hear my mother, screaming my father's name. Another wall of earth crumbled down and I could see my father, sitting at my mother's side which was completely burned.

My aunt was looking down at them, making electricity in her hands and aiming for my father when suddenly something inside of me snapped. I could feel my power grow and when I growled I could hear five other growls.

Everyone turned and looked at me in shock and when I turned from left to right I could see the former Avatars, standing next to me. Aang was standing at my right, looking at Azula as if he was shooting daggers at her. Next to him were avatar Kyoshi and Kuruk. On my left my ancestor, Avatar Roku, and Yangchen were looking at all the other warriors and when someone attacked my grandmother, Roku rushed over to her, using his air bending to keep the fire bender away from her. Soon hell broke loose and Aang was rushing to my father's side, so was I while Kyoshi joined Sokka and Suko. Kuruk ran to Kyra's side and Yangchen followed me and Aang, a worried expression on her face.

"This isn't good," the air bender murmured while she examined my mother's side. "Aang, Urso, go and get Azula. I've learned healing at the Northern Water Tribe, I'll take care of her."

We both nodded and stood up before we launched ourselves at Azula, both angry for hurting the one we loved.

**Katara:**

I opened my eyes and could see a woman leaning over me, her long hairs behind her ears to get a better look at me. I traveled up her face and gasped, seeing the air bender tattoo.

"You're an air bender?" I managed to say when I felt the pain going away, slowly.

"Originally, yes," she answered, a smile onto her face.

"Is she going to be okay?" Zuko asked, still holding my hand in his.

"She'll be fine, Fire Lord Zuko," she assured him before she stood up again. "I'll go and help Aang and Urso now, your sister is a tough one."

"AANG?" I shouted and when Zuko helped me sit up I could see Avatar Kuruk and Roku fighting the others off. "What happened?" I whispered.

"I'm not really sure… When you got hit, Urso seemed to have lost control and suddenly there were six Avatars instead of one," he answered, getting me back onto my feet.

**Urso:**

Aang and I were running after Azula, who was now protected by a lot of earth and fire benders. How she got out of prison and no one noticed was the first question that came into my mind but after seeing her, hurting my mother, I couldn't think about things like that anymore, all I felt was hatred. I could hear footsteps getting closer and turned around, prepared to attack when I saw Yangchen, walking towards us.

"She's going to be okay," she assured both me and Aang and we nodded, running after Azula who was now close to getting cornered.

**Zuko:**

I looked down at my family and friends, some of them hurt during the fight and soon the Avatars started to disappear, one by one. A thud caught my attention and I could see my sister's body lying down in front of me, soaked from top to bottom.

"She jumped off the cliff, trying to escape us," Urso muttered, looking down at the lifeless woman. "I'm sorry dad, I never wanted her to die, I just wanted to capture her so Aang could take her powers from her, you know that right?"

I looked down at my son and laid my hand upon his shoulder, assuring him that I understood.

"Katara, could you heal the others?" Yangchen asked and my wife nodded, the former Avatar disappearing as well.

Everyone was now looking at Aang, some of them tears in their eyes and no one knew what to do before Toph broke the ice.

"Hey there twinkletoes, I thought I would get a hug from you after all these years," she teased him and soon Aang started to laugh, ruffling the earth bender through her hair before giving her a hug.

"You know, not that I mind, but what exactly are you doing here?" Sokka asked, punching him against the shoulder lightly.

"I'm always here, Sokka," Aang answered. "I'm in Urso, I always am, and so are the other Avatars. That's why we were here, when he saw Katara, getting hurt there was something inside of him that broke. He learned the last state of becoming an Avatar, something I never achieved. I don't think anyone ever achieved it except for him."

"What do you mean?" my son asked.

"You've looked into your soul, trying to save your mother and your family. Most Avatars never had a family, except for the last ones of course, like Roku and I had, well, at least for a while I had one," he said. "An Avatar is not only supposed to bring balance in the world, but also in his mind. Whenever you or your friends are in danger, we will be there to help you but you must always remember, that it is your power that fought with all of these men."

"I understand," my son nodded and soon Aang left us too, after giving everyone a hug, for the last time.

**Katara:**

Another year had passed and I found my husband and son somewhere in the garden, fighting each other as always. Once they saw me they stopped, my husband walking over to me to give me a kiss. I stretched our my arm, taking my son with us and hugged them both in a tight embrace.

"I love the three of you," I whispered. "You, because you've taken care of me and because you love me and I love you, no matter what," I said while caressing Zuko's face. "My son, because you are the most wonderful gift I ever got," I said to Urso, placing a kiss on his forehead. "And you," I whispered, laying my hand upon his heart. "Because you protect us, Aang."


	11. Epilogue

**Disclaimers: I do NOT own ATLA! Mike and Bryan do ^^' This is just fanmade. I do own Urso, Taisha, Kyra and Jaden.**

**Epilogue: Twenty years later somewhere in the royal palace:**

The Fire Lady walked through the hallways, her mother-in-law next to her when the two women suddenly heard the sound of laughter and looked out of the window, seeing the Fire Lord on the ground, his son and grandson hovering over him.

A few minutes later the two women were standing in the garden, looking at Urso and Tenzin, using their firebending on each other.

"Where is Taisha?" the Fire Lady asked, handing her husband his coat.

"Taking a walk with Korra," the prince answered before knocking his son down to the ground and tickling him playfully. (Korra is the name of Taisha and Urso's daughter in this one =D And I named their son Tenzin, just because I'm having a lack of inspiration xD)

"Urso!" the princess suddenly shouted at her husband and he looked up, raising an eyebrow. The eight-year old girl ran after her mother and her older brother got back up from the ground, looking at his mother as well.

"Taisha, what's wrong?" he asked the brunette, who know put his daughter in front of me.

"Now Korra, I want you to sneeze really hard for mommy, could you do that?" she asked the dark haired girl who nodded and took a deep breath before she let out a sneeze.

Everyone followed the little girl, flying a few feet in the air before she landed on her two legs again and smiling at her father.

"All these years, I thought she wasn't a bender," Urso murmured, taking his little girl into his arms. "But she is the start of a new generation..."


End file.
